COVENTRY produced their best home performance of the season to demolish National League leaders Belle Vue 59-31 at Leicester on Sunday.
Europress Bees’ No.1 Connor Mountain led the way with an imperious 15-point maximum, and three other riders were in double figures.
Skipper Jon Armstrong hit back from a knock on Monday to card paid-15 from six rides, reserve Jamie Halder enjoyed another field day with 13, and Luke Ruddick offered a solid paid-12 in the middle-order.
The Colts were blown away in the space of four races at the start of the meeting, and only offered sporadic threat from Jack Smith, Tom Perry and Joe Lawlor.
Bees made the ideal start with a 5-1 in Heat 1, Mountain and Luke Harris gating ahead whilst Smith ground to a halt on turn three; and in Heat 2 Colts reserve Paul Bowen hit the front only to throw it all away on the fourth bend, allowing Halder and Ryan MacDonald an easy 5-1.
Ruddick held off a thrusting Lawlor to win Heat 3, and a further 4-2 in the next put Bees 18-6 up before a somewhat dubious-looking start to Heat 5 put Smith and Lawlor up front for a 5-1 to get the Colts on the board.
Coventry replied with another 4-2 in Heat 6 as Halder pounced on another Bowen error, and Ruddick’s impressive win over Perry in the ninth followed by a Heat 10 5-1 from the Mountain/Armstrong combination extended the margin to 16-points.
Armstrong then split a strong Colts pairing in Heat 11, Perry taking a good win from the outside, but the visitors then subsided and conceded three consecutive 5-1s.
Halder and Ruddick raced clear of Tom Woolley in Heat 12, Mountain and Armstrong out-trapped Smith in the next, and then Lawlor hit trouble off the second bend in Heat 14 with Harris performing some swift avoidance to go though safely and join Halder for more maximum points.
Mountain wasn’t to be denied his personal full house even when Smith gated in Heat 15, with the Coventry No.1 surging through going into the second lap for a final 4-2.
Bees boss Martyn Macdonald said: “Everything went smoothly for us, which makes a change, and the track held up reasonably well and there was some decent racing.
“We actually showed what we can do when we keep on going. We’ve been losing silly points but today everyone just rode as they should.
“I pitched people in the line-up against people I thought they should beat, but I actually thought rider-replacement would turn out a lot stronger for them than it did.
“Fortunately for me and the sleepless nights I’ve had thinking about what they can and can’t do, it didn’t really work for them.
“I’m sure Belle Vue will go away thinking they should have done a lot better, but that’s how it is. All credit to our boys, it’s nice to beat the league leaders and it’s a good way to start these three home meetings in a row.â€
COVENTRY 59: Connor Mountain 15, Jon Armstrong 13+2, Jamie Halder 13, Luke Ruddick 10+2, Luke Harris 6+2, Ryan MacDonald 2+1, Danny Phillips r/r. BELLE VUE 31: Jack Smith 10, Tom Perry 9, Joe Lawlor 7+1, Tom Woolley 3+1, Kean Dicken 2, Paul Bowen 0, Kyle Bickley r/r.
